Is Q-Day Worse than Y2K? Strategies for Surviving the Quantum Threats
Sandip Dholakia
BSidesSF 2026 · Day 1 · AMC Theatre 02
In his compelling talk at BSides SF, Sandip Dholakia, a seasoned expert with 25 years in the cryptography industry, tackled the existential threat of quantum computing to our current cryptographic infrastructure. Titled "Is Q-Day Worse than Y2K? Strategies for Surviving the Quantum Threats," Dholakia systematically dismantled the complacency surrounding the impending "Q-Day"—the moment quantum computers become powerful enough to break conventional encryption. He argues that Q-Day presents a far more complex and insidious challenge than the Y2K bug, primarily due to unknown timelines, unquantifiable impact, and the pervasive nature of vulnerable cryptographic systems.
AI review
Competent, well-structured survey of PQC threat landscape from someone who clearly knows the material. Nothing here will surprise a practitioner who's followed NIST's PQC process, but the CALC framework and hybrid-mode taxonomy are organized well enough to be useful for an audience still getting their bearings on quantum migration.